WO2002077545A1

WO2002077545A1 - High and low pressure gas selector valve of refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2002077545A1
Application number: PCT/JP2002/001165
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tomohiro Koyama; Alphons De Waele
Original assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-03-27
Filing date: 2002-02-12
Publication date: 2002-10-03
Also published as: JPWO2002077545A1; DE10296590T5; US20040040315A1

Abstract

A high and low pressure gas selector valve of a refrigerator, comprising a housing having a generally cylindrical inner peripheral surface, a housing flow passages having a high pressure gas flow passage and a low pressure gas flow passage formed in the wall surface of the housing, a generally cylindrical rotor supported on bearings and rotated through a minute clearance from the inner peripheral surface of the housing and without coming into contact with the housing, and a rotor flow passage formed in the rotor to allow gas to flow at a timing for aligning the housing flow passage with an opening part, wherein a plurality of high pressure gas inlets and low pressure gas inlets are provided in the housing at the positions symmetrical with respect to the axis of the rotating shaft of the rotor to cancel a vertical load by a gas pressure fed to the valve on the rotor rotating shaft so as to properly maintain the clearance between the rotor and the housing.

Description

Specification

High / low pressure gas switching valve for refrigerator

The present invention relates to a high-low pressure gas switching valve of a refrigerator, and in particular, has a long life, high efficiency, small size, and light weight suitable for use in a pulse tube refrigerator or a giant-fed McMahon cycle (GM) refrigerator. The present invention relates to a high-low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator that does not wear and does not generate dust. Background technology

In a pulse tube refrigerator or GM refrigerator, as shown in Fig. 1, a high-low pressure gas switching valve is used to periodically switch between high-pressure gas and low-pressure gas generated by the compressor 10 and send it to the refrigerator 12 14 are used. In the figure, 12A is a pulse tube, 12B is a regenerative tube, 12C is a cooling stage, 16 is an orifice, and 18 is a buffer tank.

A conventional high / low pressure gas switching valve is, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2617681, a valve housing with a pin 22 having a shape as shown in FIG. Valve body 20, which is stopped by 26 and is urged in the direction of valve plate 30 by coil spring 24, valve housing 26 for accommodating valve body 20, and a shape as shown in FIG. 4 A motor plate 32 for rotating the valve plate 30, and a motor casing 34 for accommodating the drive motor 32.

A space 26 b on the left side of the valve body 20 is connected to a high-pressure gas side of a compressor (not shown) via a high-pressure gas flow path 26 a of the valve housing 26. The space 3 4 b on the right side of the compressor is connected to the low-pressure gas side of the compressor via the low-pressure gas flow path 34 a of the motor casing 34, and due to the difference between these pressures and the action of the spring 24, the valve The main body 20 is pressed against the valve plate 30 and the valve main body high-pressure gas flow path 20a, the valve plate high-pressure gas flow path 30a, the valve plate low-pressure gas flow path 30b, and the valve main body refrigerator are located on both sides. Of gas flowing through the side gas flow path 20 b Rules.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 36 denotes a bearing that rotatably supports the valve plate 30.

One of the valve body 20 and the valve plate 30 is rotated by the drive motor 32 (here, the valve plate 30), and the other (here, the valve body 20) is prevented from rotating, and is formed on the contact surface. The gas is switched at the timing and opening according to the pattern shown in Fig. 5 (when supplying high pressure) and Fig. 6 (when recovering low pressure), and the flow path or space 26a 26 b → 20 a → 30 a → 20 b → 26 c (when supplying high pressure) or flow path or space 26 c → 20 b → 30 b → 34 b- → 34 a (shown in Fig. 2) The gas flows during low pressure recovery, and is supplied or recovered to the refrigerator through the valve housing refrigerator-side gas flow path 26c. However, in such a high- and low-pressure gas switching valve, the valve body 20 is pressed against the valve plate 30 to slide and seal, so that the valve body 20 and the valve plate 30 are worn out and require periodic replacement. In addition, the sliding resistance is large, and it is necessary to use a large high-torque motor for the drive motor 32, which leads to an increase in the size of the unit itself. In addition, the flow path formed in the valve body 20 and the valve plate 30 has a complicated shape, causing a large pressure loss, leading to a reduction in the capacity of the refrigerator.

As shown in FIG. 7, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-91078 discloses a rotor 101 having a circular horizontal cross section that rotates about an axis, and the rotor 101 is rotatably incorporated. A plurality of ports 105 to 112 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 101, and the ports 105 to 112 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the housing 102. A plurality of ports 1 1 1 to 1 2 corresponding to 1 1 2 are provided, and by rotation of the rotor 101, predetermined ports 105 to 1 08 of the rotor 101 and the above Match ports 1 17, 1 18, 1 20, 1 2 2 of housing 102 with both ports 105-108, 1 17, 1 18, 1 20, 1 Rotary to switch between the state where 2 2 is connected and the state where the above mates are removed and both ports 105-: L 08, 1 17, 1 18, 120 and 1 '2 2 are not connected In the figure, 103 is a bearing and 104 is a motor A. However, since each port is formed asymmetrically with respect to the axis of the rotor 101, it cannot be balanced when pressure is applied, and the leakage from high pressure to low pressure increases, causing the problem that it does not work well. Had.

Disclosure of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a high-low pressure gas switching valve which has a long life, high efficiency, can be reduced in size and weight, does not wear, and does not generate dust. Make it an issue.

The present invention relates to a high / low pressure gas switching valve of a refrigerator for periodically switching between a high pressure gas and a low pressure gas from a compressor and sending the gas to the refrigerator, and a housing having a substantially cylindrical inner peripheral surface; A housing passage including a high-pressure gas passage and a low-pressure gas passage formed on the wall of the housing; and a bearing supported by a bearing, and separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing by a small gap to rotate without contacting the housing. A high-pressure gas supply port and a low-pressure gas recovery port of the housing, comprising: a substantially cylindrical rotor; and a rotor flow path formed in the rotor and through which the gas flows through the housing flow path and the opening at a combined timing. This problem has been solved by providing a plurality of ports at positions that are axially symmetric with respect to the rotation axis of the rotor.

Further, the low-pressure gas recovery port of the housing is provided in the same plane as the high-pressure gas supply port so that a harmful moment does not act on the rotor rotating shaft due to the supplied high-pressure gas and low-pressure gas pressure. It is.

Further, the high-pressure gas or the low-pressure gas flowing into the rotor flow path is supplied to the refrigerator through a flow path formed on the center axis of the rotor and the end face of the housing.

Also, the flow path formed in the center axis of the rotor is opened at both end faces of the rotor, and the same pressure is applied to both sides of the rotor to cancel the load in the direction of the center axis of the rotor and maintain the position of the rotor appropriately. In addition, the load on the motor has been reduced.

Further, at least one of the nosing or the rotor is provided with a slit for timing adjustment.

The present invention also provides a refrigerator using the high / low pressure gas switching valve. The present invention further provides a low-temperature device using the refrigerator. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an example of a pulse tube refrigerator to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration of an example of a conventional high / low pressure gas switching valve.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the shape of the valve body.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the shape of the pulp plate.

Fig. 5 is a front view showing the relative relationship between the valve body and the valve plate when high-pressure gas is supplied.

Fig. 6 is a front view showing the relative relationship between the pulp body and the valve plate when the low-pressure gas is supplied.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional rotary valve described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-91078.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the entire configuration of the embodiment of the high / low pressure gas switching valve according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view showing the same high pressure gas supply state.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the same low-pressure gas supply state.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a valve housing used in the embodiment.FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the same rotor.

FIG. 13 is a pipeline diagram showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a 4-valve type, loess tube refrigerator. FIG. 14 is an example in which the present invention is applied to an active buffer type pulse tube refrigerator.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION ''

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The high / low pressure gas switching valve of this embodiment is shown in FIGS. 8 (longitudinal section), FIG. 9 (cross section in a state where high pressure gas is supplied to the refrigerator), and FIG. 10 (low pressure gas is supplied to the refrigerator). As shown in FIG. 11, a valve housing 42 having a substantially cylindrical inner peripheral surface and having a shape as shown in FIG. 11 is formed axially symmetrically on the wall surface of the valve housing 42. The pair of high-pressure gas passages 42a and the pair of low-pressure gas passages 42b (housing flow The bearing is supported by bearings 44, 45, and rotates without contacting the valve housing 42 with a small gap 43 between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 42. A substantially cylindrical rotor 46 as shown in FIG. 12 and a flow passage 42 a or 42 b of the valve housing 42 formed in the rotor 46 and an opening are combined. And a switching gas passage 46a through which the gas flows, and a refrigerator-side gas passage 46b (collectively referred to as a rotor passage).

The gas is sealed by a small gap 43 between the rotor 46 and the housing 42. Therefore, the size of the small gap 43 can be set to, for example, 5 to 100 m. That is, it is required to be 5 μm or more to prevent contact, and is preferably 100 μm or less to prevent the adverse effect on the performance of the refrigerator.

8, 50 is a drive motor for rotating the rotor 46 via a coupling 52, 54 is a casing of the drive motor 50, and 54a is inside the casing 54. Space.

In the present embodiment, the rotor 46 supported by the two bearings 44, 45 rotates without contacting the housing 42. A flow path is formed in the rotor 46 and the housing 42, and gas flows into the rotor flow path at the combined timing of the respective openings. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when the high-pressure gas flow path 42a of the valve housing 42 and the switching flow path 46a of the rotor 46 face each other, the high-pressure gas flow path or space 42a → 46 It is supplied to the refrigerator via a → 46 b → 42 c. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, when the low-pressure gas flow path 42b of the valve housing 42 and the switching flow path 46a of the rotor 46 face each other, the low-pressure gas flows into the flow path or space 42c. → 46 b → 46 a → 42 b.

The high-pressure gas supply port 42 a from the compressor is provided in two systems at positions axially symmetric with respect to the rotor 46, each of which is connected to the rotor shaft in the vertical direction. Since there are two systems at axisymmetric positions, the load in the vertical direction of the rotating shaft of the rotor 46 due to the supplied high-pressure gas pressure is canceled, and the gap 43 between the rotor 46 and the housing 42 is properly maintained. The low pressure gas supply port 42b from the compressor has the same structure as the high pressure gas side, while preventing gaps and uneven wear of the shaft, and reducing the load on the motor 50. The flow path is formed at the same angle as 90 ° on the same plane as the supply passage and the high-pressure gas flow path 42a.

The space 54a in the casing in which the drive motor 50 is installed is communicated with the space 42c supplied to the refrigerator by the rotor flow path 46b, and by always having the same pressure, The axial load on the rotor 46 is canceled, and the position of the rotor 46 is maintained at a proper position to prevent the gap from being offset and the rotor to wear unevenly, and to reduce the load on the drive motor 50.

With such a configuration, since the rotor 46 and the housing 42 seal without contact, there is no sliding portion, no dust is generated, and periodic component replacement is unnecessary. Although there is some leakage due to non-contact, it is negligible compared to the flow rate of gas flowing through the high / low pressure gas switching valve.

In addition, by balancing the pressure, the rotational resistance of the rotor 46 is reduced as much as possible, and the load on the drive motor 50 is reduced, so that a small motor can be used, and the unit can be reduced in size and weight. Power consumption can be reduced.

Further, since the pressure is balanced, a minute gap 43 for sealing can be stably secured. Furthermore, since the flow path shape is simple, pressure loss is small and high efficiency operation is possible.

In the present embodiment, the slits 42 s and 46 s are provided in both the housing 42 and the rotor 46, so that the valve switching timing can be easily changed. The slits 42 s and 46 s can be either only one or can be omitted.

^ G 2 O mm of valve rotor 46, total length 24 mm, gas flow path 42 & ~ 42 <:, inner diameter of 46 a, 46 b 3 mm, minute gap for sealing 43 spacing 15 〃 m, drive motor 5 Q, drive voltage 1 to 24 V, DC drive current 5 mA (when driving 3 V DC), 1 to; by switching drive voltage; switching frequency is variable to about LOH z Using a small DC motor with a reducer, the bearings 44 and 45 were made to be a standard product.The loss due to leakage from the sealing small gap 43 in the high and low pressure gas switching valve was about 40 W, Since it was about 0.5% with respect to the compressor input, it was within a negligible range. The valve unit of the present invention can be used not only for various pulse tubes, but also for a phase control mechanism of a pulse tube refrigerator as shown in the following examples.

In the case of a four-valve pulse tube refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 13, two openable valves 61 and 62 are used to control the phase of the high-temperature end of the pulse tube 12 A instead of the knocker. One end of the two valves 61, 62 is connected to the hot end of the pulse tube 12A through a common orifice 16. The ίya ends are connected to the high pressure gas and low pressure gas supply lines of the compressor 10, respectively. The two valves open and close periodically according to a predetermined timing chart to optimize the phase of the pressure change and the gas displacement inside the Norse tube, and bring out a predetermined refrigeration performance.

Accordingly, the operation state of the phase control valve is essentially the same as that of the high / low pressure switching valve cutout 14 between the regenerator 12 and the compressor 10. Can also be used for this phase control valve.

Further, in the case of an active buffer type pulse tube refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 14, the pulse tube 12 位相 phase control at the high temperature end is performed by one or more buffers instead of the alignment of one buffer and the orifice. It is performed in combination with the same number of open / close valves 61, 62 as 18 and 19. These buffers 18 and 19 are maintained at an intermediate pressure between the high and low pressures of the compressor, but the pressure in each buffer is different. Each buffer is connected to the hot end of the pulse tube via its own switching valve. Each open / close valve periodically opens and closes according to a predetermined timing 'chart, thereby optimizing the phase between the pressure change of the pulse tube portion and the gas displacement, and brings out a predetermined refrigeration performance.

Accordingly, the operation state of the phase control valve is essentially the same as that of the high / low pressure switching valve unit 14 between the regenerator 12 B and the compressor 10. This phase control valve can also be used.

Furthermore, there is no wear, so it can be used at low temperatures. Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a high-low pressure gas switching valve of a cryogenic refrigerator such as a GM refrigerator or a pulse tube refrigerator.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the balance of the load of the axial direction of a rotor rotating shaft and a perpendicular direction is balanced. Thus, the gap between the rotor and the housing can be appropriately maintained, and the load on the motor can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to make the high / low pressure gas switching valve long life, high efficiency, small size and light weight, and not to wear and generate dust. Power saving can be achieved.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. In the high / low pressure gas switching valve of the refrigerator, which periodically switches between high pressure gas and low pressure gas from the compressor and sends it to the refrigerator.

A housing having a substantially cylindrical inner peripheral surface;

A housing flow path including a high-pressure gas flow path and a low-pressure gas flow path formed on a wall surface of the housing;

A substantially cylindrical rotor that is supported by bearings and rotates without contacting the housing with a small gap from the inner peripheral surface of the housing;

A rotor flow path formed in the rotor, through which gas flows at a timing at which the nosing flow path and the opening match.

A high-low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator, wherein a plurality of high-pressure gas supply ports and a plurality of low-pressure gas supply ports of the housing are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the rotation axis of the rotor.

2. The high / low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the low pressure gas supply port of the housing is provided in the same plane as the high pressure gas supply port.

3. The high-pressure gas or the low-pressure gas flowing into the rotor flow path is supplied to a seventh-stage freezer through a flow path formed on a central axis of the rotor and an end face of the nozzle. Item 3. A high / low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator according to Item 1 or 2.

4. The high / low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein a flow path formed on a center axis of the rotor is open at both end faces of the rotor.

5. The high / low pressure gas switching valve for a refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a slit for timing adjustment is provided on at least one of the nozzle or the rotor.

6. A refrigerator using the high-low pressure gas switching valve of the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A low-temperature device using the refrigerator according to claim 6.